Night of Sacrifice
by chilibreath
Summary: What really happened the night Fire Lord Azulon died? Did Fire Lord Ozai tell Zuko the truth? First shot at an ATLA fanfic!


Night of Sacrifice

Warnings: For those who haven't seen Book 3, MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD.

A/N: My first ATLA fic! I was intrigued by the flashbacks in "Zuko Alone" from Season 2, and it intensified after I watched "The Day of Black Sun, pt. 2". The "events" portrayed here are my suspicions as to what REALLY happened the night Azulon died. Italicized portions are from "The Day of the Black Sun".

Disclaimer: Avatar, The Last Airbender is not mine. Please don't sue. Besides, I don't have much cash on me.

* * *

**The day of Black Sun, at the secret bunker of the Fire Lord**

_Prince Zuko had said his piece to the Fire Lord. The truth was finally out._

_Gripping the broadswords tightly, Zuko faced his father and announced, "After I leave here today, I'm going to free Uncle Iroh from his prison and I'm going to beg for his forgiveness. He's the one who was a real father to me."_

_The Fire Lord laughed._

_"That's just BEAUTIFUL," Ozai sneered. "Maybe he can pass down to you the ways of tea and failure."_

_Zuko barely flinched, he was so used to his father's cruelty. Why did he seek his father's approval for all this time when the Fire Lord's feelings about his only son was so obvious? Ozai had proven it years before to the entire Fire Nation and the rest of the world, and the evidence was still there on Zuko's badly scarred face._

_Zuko's grip on the broadswords tightened further._

_"But I've come to an even more important decision," Zuko declared. He closed his eyes, breathed in deeply, and then looked at his father straight in the eye. "I'm going to join the Avatar, and I'm going to help him defeat you."_

_Ozai accepted this announcement with a derisive smile. He would wait until the end of the solar eclipse, when his firebending powers returned, to deal with his son more...appropriately._

_In the meantime, he would give his traitorous son his undivided attention._

_"Really?" Ozai asked, sounding as though he were listening to some amusing prattle. "Since you're a full-blown traitor now and you want me gone, why wait? I'm powerless; you've got your swords. Why don't you just do it now?"_

_"Because I know my own destiny," Zuko steadily replied. "Taking you down is the Avatar's destiny."_

_Zuko sheathed the broadswords._

_"Goodbye."_

_He turned around and walked away from his father._

_"COWARD!" Ozai roared. "You think you're brave enough to face me, but you'll only do it during the eclipse."_

_Zuko still kept on walking. Ozai stood up and continued:_

_"If you have any REAL courage, you'll stick around until the sun comes out."_

_Zuko did not pause. He was almost at the door..._

_Ozai asked softly, "Don't you want to know what happened to your mother?"_

_Zuko paused. He turned around and saw his father smiling malevolently..._

vv

**Six years ago**

Princess Ursa sighed as she walked down the torch-lit corridor. She always had trouble sleeping after an audience with her father-in-law, Fire Lord Azulon. He frightened her.

In reality, Azulon was neither overly kind nor completely cruel to her. He simply treated her with polite indifference on the rare occasions that they crossed each other's paths. He treated Zuko and Azula, his own grandchildren, to the same indifference, and those two looked at their grandfather with awe. The only exceptions (so it was said) were his first-born son, Prince Iroh, and Iroh's son, Lu Ten, the second and third in line to the throne. Azulon always sought out Iroh's thoughts on important decisions pertaining to the war. Prince Ozai, in the meantime was given smaller assignments.

Basically, to everyone in the royal palace, the Fire Lord was preparing Iroh and Lu Ten to succeed him when the time came.

But Lu Ten was dead, killed during the siege of Ba Sing Se.

Ursa closed her eyes. "Rest in peace, Lu Ten," she said quietly.

She could not comprehend what Iroh must be feeling. To have your own child predecease you...it was too painful to think about.

She opened her eyes. Ursa turned a corner and walked down the hall leading to Zuko's room. As she got closer, she could hear Azula and Zuko arguing.

Ursa shook her head. Intelligent and talented, Azula did love making her older brother feel bad about himself, and she did THAT quite effortlessly. However, Ursa was becoming more concerned about the girl's behavior. She tried to talk to Ozai about it, but he just laughed and told her not to worry so much.

"If there's anyone you need to worry about, it's Prince Zuko," Ozai had said coldly when Ursa tried to press the issue. "In twenty years, he'll never achieve a fraction of what Azula has accomplished in a month!"

Ursa shook her head and headed for Zuko's room. The children's voices were low, but she could hear the panic in Zuko's voice. She reached the door when she heard Zuko say, "Dad would never do that to me!"

Curious, Ursa asked, "Your dad would never do what?"

vv

_Zuko stepped closer to the dais where Ozai stood._

_"What happened that night?" Zuko asked. He felt his heart beating rapidly._

_Ozai stared into his son's eyes--the same golden hue as his._

_"Fire Lord Azulon commanded me to do the unthinkable. To you, my own son."_

_Zuko's eyes widened. So Azula HADN'T lied that night..._

vv

Ursa grabbed Azula's arm and pulled her out of Zuko's room. They walked down the corridor until they reached another room. Ursa opened the door and looked inside. Assured that no one was inside, she firmly pulled Azula into the room and closed the door behind her.

"Is there SOMETHING you'd like to tell me, Azula?" Ursa asked fiercely. So fiercely that Azula, who was always defiant towards her mother, took a step back. Azula had never seen her mother so angry.

Ursa grabbed Azula's upper arm and pulled her back. "TELL ME!"

"G-grandfather--Fire Lord Azulon--he told Dad to kill Zuko..." Azula whispered.

Ursa's eyes widened. "WHAT? How could you say that?"

"It's true!" Azula said calmly. She managed to compose herself back to her usual, haughty self. "Grandfather was angry because Dad wanted to be declared his heir instead of Iroh the kooky..."

Ursa's eyes flashed. "Azula!"

"What? Uncle Iroh IS kooky! He lost it when cousin Lu Ten died and didn't even finish raiding Ba Sing Se! Now Grandfather wants to punish Dad for asking for Iroh's birthright by having him kill Zuko so that he'd know what it's like to lose a son."

Ursa backed away from Azula. She could not hide the horror and disgust that she felt as she looked at her daughter, who now looked back at her mother with a look of interest on her pale face. Was Azula born without a heart at all?

"Can I go now?" Azula asked petulantly. THAT brought Ursa back to the present. She took a few deep, calming breaths, and then went to open the door.

"Go to your room, Azula," she said quietly. "I'll talk to your father about this."

vv

_"And I was going to do it," Ozai continued. "Your mother found out, and swore that she would protect you at any cost. She knew I wanted the throne, and she proposed a plan--a plan in which I would become Fire Lord, and your life would be spared."_

_Ozai paused and looked closely at his son's face. Aside from the paleness of his face, there was no other hint as to how Zuko was taking this confession._

_Ozai continued: "Your mother did vicious, treasonous things that night..."_

vv

Ursa walked as fast as she could to her room--the room she shared with Ozai. She motioned to her ladies-in-waiting waiting for her outside the door.

"Is my husband inside, Song?" she asked breathlessly.

"Yes, my lady," Song replied. She looked at Ursa with concern. "Is there--?"

"I would like some time alone with my husband," Ursa said tightly. "I will not require your services tonight. You may retire early."

"Thank you, my lady," the ladies-in-waiting chorused. Ursa waited until the two women rounded the corner before entering the room.

She looked around the cavernous room. Ozai was standing by the window, looking out at the garden where she and Zuko would feed the turtle ducks.

Zuko...

"Tell me it's not true," she whispered.

Ozai did not acknowledge her presence in any way. Ursa walked swiftly to his side and begged, "Tell me that the Fire Lord didn't order you to kill our son!"

Ozai did not move for a full minute. When he did, the face he turned to her was impassive.

"The Fire Lord's word is law," he said coldly.

Ursa's eyes widened in horror. "No..." she whispered. Tears began to pool in her eyes. "You must apologize! You must--"

Ozai took her hands into his. "I have no choice. The deed will be done tomorrow."

Ursa shook her head. "There has to be a way, there has to be!"

"There is one way," Ozai said softly.

Something in his voice gave Ursa pause. She looked up and straight into her husband's eyes. "You mean..."

Ozai squeezed her hands. "It is the only way. But I cannot do it without your help."

Ursa's eyes widened. "But he's your father..."

"And he wants me to do the unthinkable to my son. OUR son! Decide, Ursa: him, or Zuko!"

**Later that night**

The deed was done. A cloaked Ursa returned to the room. A cloaked Ozai followed suit and closed the door behind them. He walked towards a window. He lifted a small, gray, empty paper packet from the inside of his cloak and set it on fire at the snap of his fingers. He let the cinders fly out into the night.

"How fast?" Ursa whispered behind him.

"It would have worked by now," Ozai whispered back. He turned around and Ursa saw his tense face.

"What is it?" she asked.

"The Fire Lord's attendant saw you prepare the tea," Ozai muttered. "Once they find his body, they will suspect..."

Ursa paled.

"They couldn't--they have no evidence..." she gasped. Ursa began to wring her hands and started to sob. She felt Ozai's large hand on her shoulder.

"You must flee."

vv

_"She knew the consequences and accepted them. For her treason, she was banished."_

_Zuko felt like he was hit with lightning. "So she's alive..." he whispered. Tears flowed freely down one smooth cheek._

_"Perhaps," Ozai said indifferently. Then he narrowed his eyes and said loudly, "Now I realize that banishment is far too merciful a penalty for treason!"_

_Ozai closed his eyes. He could feel the fire returning._

_"Your punishment will be far steeper!"_

_Ozai suddenly opened his eyes. He unleashed a powerful bolt of lightning and aimed it at Zuko._

_To Ozai's surprise, Zuko did not fall. Zuko moved as though he was pushed backwards by the lightning strike, all the way to the door. His hands were raised throughout the ordeal. The lightning did not disappear, but hovered around Zuko, making the hair on his head stand up._

_The next thing Ozai knew, the lightning was redirected, blasting the edge of the dais where he stood. The explosion sent Ozai flying backwards. He hit the rough-hewn wall covered by a Fire Nation banner before he slid down and landed on his hands and knees._

_Shaken and irate, the Fire Lord looked up past the burning dais._

_The prince was gone._


End file.
